The Faith of a Child

Yesterday we wrapped up our five part series in Children’s Church that I had entitled “The Road Trip To Christmas”  We spent the majority of the time talking about the events that surrounded the visit of the Wise Men and the Star of Bethlehem.  What started out as a hopefully fun and interactive class that I would present to the kids ended up being a humbling experience for me as I learned a simple lesson about the innocent faith of a child.

Throughout the weeks of this series I enjoyed doing some rather deep research into the whole Christmas story as reported in the gospels of Matthew and Luke.  I referenced at least a dozen commentaries, countless scholarly internet ministry articles, historical web sites as well as Children’s ministries and astronomy resources.  For yesterday’s subjects I had spent quite awhile looking up information on the identities of the Magi and read many of the numerous articles that are available concerning the fact or fiction of the Bethlehem Star.  Most articles (both secular and religious) tended to agree that there was enough historical evidence that the phenomenon that the Bible says was a star that led the Wise Men, did indeed occur.  (Whether it was an actual star, comet, meteor or some other cosmic substance is widely debated!)

As we went through the slide show that I had put together for yesterday’s class, we paused for awhile at a couple of artist’s renditions of the star and I asked the students their thoughts on it’s reality.  It was like they all started talking at once as they voiced their opinions based on what they’ve heard or seen.  Then as a moment of silence filled the room, one of the older students leaned forward in her chair and confidently stated that “It had to of happened, because the Bible says it did!”  And with that all the conversation stopped.  Everyone just kind of sat in their chairs and stared at me for a moment.  I have to admit that she caught me slightly off guard, but I immediately began to laugh at myself as I witnessed her innocence and the frankness at which she spoke out her faith.

It was funny to me because of the hours that I had literally spent,  totally absorbed in my research in an attempt to prove the validity of Matthew’s rendition of the story.  As a Christian, the validity of anything written in the Bible should be based on the fact that this sacred book was inspired by the Holy Spirit and is the living and active word of Jesus Christ. (see Hebrews 4:12)  Why should we then, try to prove its statements by looking at what people throughout history think or say?

It is interesting to see when discoveries in natural history back up the stories in the Bible, but that should just be icing on the cake, not our main source of justification when we share it’s truths to others! The firmness of that one young student’s reply yesterday definitely caused me to think about my own belief system.  Am I as adamant about all the subjects in the Bible as I am concerning the truth of God’s will for healing?  Hummm….

How about you?  Do you believe His word because He said it is true (John 17:17) or because you can back it up through other sources?  Didn’t Jesus say something about having the faith of a child?  You might want to try teaching Children’s Church once in awhile… it might just awaken something that you've lost when you grew up!  Stay tuned and keep asking yourself… “What am I expecting TO BELIEVE Today?”